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In my opinion there is one main scenario regarding the evolution of the quality of human life in the future.

That is, of course, the near future. I have to say, from the beginning that this scenario is an optimistic one. However, I am sadly forced to start from a pessimistic consideration. That is, taking in account the fact that the world economy is extremely dependent upon liquid fuel, it is obvious the fact that the depletion of the natural reserves of petroleum will produce a lot of economic and social tension. However, it is my belief that the world did not only foresee this but it is, as I write, developing scenarios and exit strategies in order to implement them and prevent a socio-economical global crack-down. Of course, the most popular scenario is the one which gave birth to the modern alternative energy sources. I used the term modern because, as it happens, alternative energy resources have been known to mankind since the late middle ages. For example, coal became the alternative to wood in the 13th century, because of the massive deforestations that almost led to a fuel and nutritional disaster. In the same way, petroleum became an alternative to whale oil, the most popular fuel for lamps in the 19 th century, because of the depletion of the whale stocks. It is clear now the fact that energy related crisis are cyclical phenomenon that occur mainly because of the depletion of what are generally considered large scale resources. It is human nature to ignore the fact that even the most widespread resources, such as wood, petroleum and natural gases are not perennial. Humans lavish in numbers. The humans do not understand the fact that trillions of cubic meters or billions of barrels are also limited reserves because of the fact that the human mind simply cannot physically conceive such large measures. To put it simply, the human mind associates such large numbers with the infinite or, in this case, with infinite resources. And so, our civilization did not consider, in its expansion the need to preserve resources. It preferred to periodically deplete some and change them with others. I think that, in the present, the humankind finally obtained the necessary quantum of wisdom to realize the destructive potential of this type of behavior. That is because, for the first time in his existence, the human directs his attention to perennial sources of energy and not only that, but he tries to tame them too. I am speaking about solar, wind and geothermal energies, biofuel, ethanol, hydrogen and, why not, the newest entries in the alternative energy club, the ecologically friendly ones, such as algae fuel and biomass briquettes. The moment when everybody understands the advantages of these sources of energy will mark the dawn of a new era for mankind. They cannot be depleted and so, will not produce economic and social tensions once implemented. They are available for exploitation for everyone everywhere. They do not pollute the planet. These are just three of the many advantages alternative energy has. In my opinion that moment is very near and will definitely bring, once alternative energy becomes mainstream, a huge leap forward regarding the quality of human, animal and vegetal life.